US Deploys USS Gerald Ford Aircraft Carrier Against Venezuela

Written on 10/24/2025
Victor Cohen
The U.S. will send the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to the Caribbean as part of the military buildup against Venezuela. Credit: NATO / CC BY NC ND 2.0

The United States is sending the USS Gerald R. Ford, its main aircraft carrier, to the Caribbean as part of the military pressure campaign against Venezuela. The USS Gerald R. Ford will join a large U.S. naval force already deployed in the southern Caribbean and directed against Venezuela, officially under the Trump administration’s war on drug cartels.

US deploy USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier in the Caribbean with Venezuela in sight

The decision was announced a few hours ago by chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell on his X account. “In support of the President’s directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the homeland, the Secretary of War has directed the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and its embarked carrier air wing to the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility,” the statement reads.

Parnell described the deployment as a way to “bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,” while also enhancing “existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and dismantle TCOs.”

The USS Gerald R. Ford is the world’s largest aircraft carrier and the most powerful warship ever built. Its Carrier Air Wing 8 carries more than 70 aircraft, including four squadrons of F/A-18 Super Hornets, two MH-60S Seahawk helicopter squadrons, and three additional squadrons for electronic warfare, logistics, and airborne early warning.

The carrier is not sailing alone. It serves as the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 12, which includes two Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers — the USS Normandy (CG-60) and USS Vicksburg (CG-69) — as well as four destroyers.

Carrier Strike Group 12 will reinforce the existing U.S. military presence in the Caribbean. Over 10,000 U.S. troops are currently deployed in the region, including 5,500 in Puerto Rico — where, according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, they are training for military operations — and 4,500 aboard a naval force made up of at least eight surface warships, one submarine, maritime patrol aircraft, MQ-9 Reaper drones, and an F-35 squadron directed toward Venezuela.

Drums of war in the Caribbean

The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford off Venezuela’s coast would significantly alter the current dynamics. Until now, U.S. forces have primarily targeted small speedboats allegedly transporting narcotics. The deployment of a powerful aircraft carrier strike group could enable far more extensive operations with overwhelming firepower. In recent days, the Trump administration has increasingly hinted that the next step could be direct airstrikes on Venezuelan soil — a move that would justify the carrier’s presence.

Venezuela is home to two organizations designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entities by the Trump administration: Tren de Aragua, a criminal network active across Latin America — particularly in Chile, Peru, and Colombia — and the Cartel de los Soles, an alleged drug cartel run by high-ranking Chavista officials, including President Nicolas Maduro and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.

As Trump has declared that the U.S. is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, the growing military buildup against Venezuela appears directly aligned with that objective — with regime change as the White House’s ultimate goal.